Today marks the beginning of the second half of conference play for us! In our conference, we play everyone twice, once at home and once at the opponent’s home. We are currently standing at 2-5 on the season. This is by no means where we want to be, so we have a lot of work to do, starting tonight. - Tonight, we played the Seward County Saints for the second time, but this time at home. Today was a typical game day for us. I got to the office around 9:00 am, met with Jordan at 9:30, and made sure jerseys were washed and hung up. After jerseys, I aired up all of our volleyballs because they just get flat over time, especially with the change in weather. Once the balls were aired up, it was time for a walkthrough with the team. Coach Bruere and I both took extra time to discuss scout on the other team for the second round during the walkthrough. Walkthroughs lasted about an hour; then there was some downtime for lunch treatment to head back to the gym to set up again, pregame talk, and warmups. We ended up falling to Seward again 3-0, 25-10,25-17,25-21..
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Today is game day! We play Barton Community College at home. Tonight’s game has a special promotion on behalf of Dodge City Student Ambassadors. It took a but of planning and coordinating bit of planning and then we were able to provide the first 25 students to the game will receive a $2 off coupon to Dodge City Nutrition. The Dodge City Nutrition is a new local shake place that provides people with Herbalife, meal replacements, protein shakes, detox teas, and even meal prepping. I know that the nutrition place is relatively new to town, so our student ambassadors were strategic with partnering with the company. We did have fans and students show up early, and we were able to hand out coupons. I think this was a great way to promote volleyball and get some traffic at Dodge City Nutrition. I, myself, visited the place the next day to get a tea after my morning workout! It actually tasted delicious, and I was pleased with the service as well. Overall, partnering with Dodge City Nutrition to increase fan engagement as well as customers was a success!
Today we did not have a game, so it was time to get some work done in the office. Jordan and I touched base on things we need to get completed today, sense we have been on the go for recently. Today I focused on getting film uploaded into our HUDL and getting game broken down as well. This is sometimes a tedious process because sometimes the WIFI at the gym can be slow, causing it to take forever to upload. Secondly, I worked ahead on travel trips and getting itineraries submitted to our fleet department early. After itineraries were complete, I recruited until lunchtime. Recruiting was fun; I discovered some great potential student-athletes and started to form connections and get the process going. I took a break for lunch then headed back for practice. Today was a light practice because we played last night. After practice, I continued to get some office work done and send receipts to our accountant for purchases made on the school card. – Now and then, coaches need to slow down, turn some music on in your office, and get caught up to remain sane. Coaching is a fast-paced day-to-day job, so sometimes these days are necessary.
Yesterday was a long day, and today was as well. A team dropped out of the tournament due to COID-19. Our schedule got moved up; we now had an 8:00 am match. – Early bird gets the worm! We checked out of the hotel and grabbed a complimentary breakfast at 7:00. After breakfast, we headed to the gym to begin warmups for our first game of the day. We played Southeast Community College and lost 1-3, 25-20,22-25,14-12,13-25. This was not a good game, and Coach Bruere and I had a long meeting about turning the tournament around and ending on a better note. We talked about strategy, coaching, encouragement, and plays. After our meeting, I felt better about going into our second match. – I went to get lunch from a local restaurant in town then came back to the gym. We had a long break in between games, so there was a little bit of downtime to scout other opponents we would be playing during the season. For our second game, we played McCook Community College and lost 0-3, 24-26-23-25-16-25. This tournament didn’t end up as we expected, and we have a lot of work to do moving forward to turn the season around and still have a winning season despite the four losses we took this weekend. After the last game, I picked up Pizza hut again for the drive back home. It was a long 3.5-hour drive, to say the least.
Today was a long day. We departed at 7:00 am and drove 3.5 hours to McCook, Nebraska. We hit some bumps in the road along the way; however, we still made it. About 5 minutes into the trip, everyone in my car passed out, so I was jamming to music by myself for most of the trip. As soon as we arrived, we had to begin warm-ups to play. First, at 12:00 pm we played North Platte Community College. We lost the first game 1-3, 26-28,25-21,25-21,25-19. After our first game, I picked up lunch for the team at Subway. It was snowing all day and very difficult to drive; however the sandwiches made it back safe and sound. After lunch, we played against Casper Community College at 4:00pm and that game; I think maybe we ate too much bread? We lost to Casper College 0-3, 21-25, 18-25, 10-25. Not exactly the outcome we were looking for, but it's only day one of the tournaments and plenty of time to redeem ourselves. After the second game, around 6:30pm I headed to pick up dinner at Pizza Hut and check into the hotel. Checking into the hotel was quick except they did not accept out of state Tax-exempt forms. This was a new process to me as we usually travel within the state so, at this moment, I learned never to assume all businesses will honor tax-exempt. After checking in, I showered and went to bed; it was a very long day.
Our first overnight tournament of the year is tomorrow! Can you say stressful???? This weekend will be the first overnight trip of the season; we travel to McCook, Nebraska, for a two-day tournament. Travel trips are always a bit stressful as I am the coordinator for these trips. For this trip, I coordinated vehicle arrangements, lodging arrangements, and meals for both days. It's always fun trying to make 13 picky college girls happy! Planning meals on the road for two days within a budget can also make you be more creative. Furthermore, we had a bump in the road because we were informed that the coaches were responsible for driving. * All sports are pushed into one semester, so there was no availability for a charter bus* Aside from travel arrangements, I needed to figure out four meals for pre and post-game! Luckily the hotel provided breakfast for us, so that will be taken care of! I booked the hotel a month in advance because there were 10+ teams in this tournament. Planning is vital! After all the preparation and planning, I was able to put together a final itinerary so everyone would be on the same page for this trip!
Gameday! Today we played the Seward County Saints, ranked #1 in the KJCC and # 10 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). This week will be the most challenging week as play the top two teams in the conference's opening week. First things first, I met with Jordan, as usual, to go over our day. During today's meeting, we discussed the importance of social media and reaching fans through these platforms. We began a new account when both of us accepted this position, so we are building from the ground up! I worked on making some graphics for each game to post on Instagram and Twitter. Each picture must include the opponent, location, time, and a team photo! I usually have fun generating graphics because we use a software called box out sports, and I have the freedom to be as creative as possible. After creating the picture, the next most complicated part is to create a catchy, fun caption. The caption is the essential part of the photo because it's what users will read in-depth while they usually glimpse at the graphic. Sometimes I wished they had an app that would generate captions for you because it is a challenge to develop creative captions for every post! Aside from working on some social media content, the regular game day procedures took place. We left the school and traveled two hours to Liberal, Kansas, but unfortunately, we did not win. We lost in 3 straight sets.
=Today was our first home game of the 2021 season! We played the #2 team ranked in our conference, so we knew it would be a great match! To start the day, Jordan and I meet at 9:30 am to go over the day and anything we need to discuss. Usually, in these daily meetings, we will talk about anything that has happened between the previous day’s practice and the current morning. We also review recruiting and update each other on what prospects we have heard back from or haven’t heard back from. Lastly, we will then discuss what we have planned for the day. Usually, game days are the busiest days of the week! – Today was one of those busy days. First, Jordan and I reviewed scout on the opponents. Then I double-checked to make sure jerseys were washed and hung up in each player’s lockers. Other home game day duties entail ensuring that the on-campus café will have a pre-game meal prepared for the team at 4:30 pm. I sent out a reminder email to the café workers then I continue my game to-do list. Next, I ensure that I have six-game balls fully blown up and ready for tonight. Then I double-checked to make sure stats sheets were in order. Later, we had a serve and pass or “walk through.” During this time, the team had a light practice to get reps before the game later tonight. After the walk through’s around 1:00 pm, the team has down the time until team dinner at 4:30 pm. Once dinner is complete, it is time to set up the gym for game day! I am usually in charge of set up, including setting up the net and getting all of the volleyballs out for warmups, and making sure film and stats sheets are prepared. After the gym is game day ready, the team has one hour until warmups starting at 5:30 pm and game time at 6:30 pm We ended up losing in a heartbreaker match to the Colby Community College Trojans in 5 sets (25-16, 30-28, 25-19,25-17,16-14). This game was a tough pill to swallow, but it is still early in the season, so we are looking forward!
There were some first-game jitters I had going into our first real game of the season, as well as our first conference game! The team was able to play scrimmages during the fall semester, but there is nothing like the real game! Aside from the jitters, I was equally as excited to see the team finally be able to compete in season play. For our freshman players, this was the first college game of their career. As I discussed earlier, our season got postponed due to COVID-19 complications, so this moment was highly anticipated for the entire team! The team traveled to Independence, Kansas, to compete against the Indy Pirates. For all my Last Chance U fans, yes! This is the Independence Community College that was featured on the famous Netflix show!! Moreover, with away games, I am primarily in charge of all travel procedures and protocols. Some of these procedures include but are not limited to; submitting a travel itinerary to the fleet department and reserving the charter bus in advance, pre-travel covid screening and temperature checks, packing jerseys and film equipment, setting up film once we have arrived at the arena, preparing and color-coding game stats, ordering post-game meal for the team and ensuring we have a safe trip back! – Some additional responsibilities include touching base with the other team’s athletic trainer to ensure we meet all COVID protocols before and upon arrival. This was my first experience in doing so with the Dodge City Volleyball Team, and it went smoothly! The off the court things were taken care of which made coaching the actual game a lot easier! The conquistadors ended up with a swep (won 3-0) against the pirates 25-8, 25-30, 25-15!
Today was team picture day. I planned and orchestrated team photos with our Sports Information Director (SID) Joe. Joe is fantastic and very creative, which made the process a lot easier for us on our end! Coach Bruere and I wanted new headshots for everyone, including returners from last year as well as newcomers. In addition to new roster pictures, we wanted to be sure to capture team photos of everyone, all sophomores, all freshmen, and position groups for social media content. As you know, college girls taking pictures can be a long process! – and it was. We were able to take a lot of photos in a few various locations around campus and the gym. It makes me get emotional and think back to when I was in college because media day was my favorite! I could tell it was the team's favorite as well. Of course, after we were done, all of them immediately had to capture their own pictures for Instagram. All in all, picture day was a process but a major success! This day requires patience, but it is worth it when we have fantastic graphics throughout the year to promote games.
We made it to the last day! For the last day of two a days, we made it one more extended session again. During this session, we played games for about half of the practice. The girls deserved it. They have been working so hard for nine straight days and have improved so much. To start, we played their favorite game, dig or die, then Oklahoma and various other games of their choosing. While we were playing games, each of them was still getting after it and playing hard. After games, we broke off into two separate sides and played the last game of the day serve ball, down ball free ball. This game is very time-consuming because it forces teams to put together three points in a row in order to move on; if not, it will continue to go back and forth. We finished practice with this drill and one finally horahhhh for two a day’s 2021! Classes start tomorrow, so after practice, I met with the girls to ensure they had their schedules and knew where each course was, whether on zoom due to COVID-19 or in-person face-to-face. Additionally, I spoke with the girls about the importance of meeting professors on the first day to introduce themselves and inform professors about missing class for travel days during the semester.
The final count down! Today and then tomorrow is the last day of two days this year. As a coach, I am exhausted. Early mornings and all day at the office, but I know the work I put in now will be worth it in the end. On day 8 of two a days, we did one practice and a weights session.
Session 1: The first practice of today was a great one. The team came in with high energy and was ready to get to work. After the scrimmage yesterday, we have more of an idea who our starters will be; come the first game in a few weeks. We put the starts on one side and the remainders on the other side and did five v four drills. The purpose of this drill is to get serve receive reps and then play it out. One side has an advantage of five players, and one side has a disadvantage with four players. Each side competes regardless of how many players they have. This drill is designed to make attackers hit the open spots on the court and make defenders read attackers better. Weights: After a competitive practice, we headed to the weight room to get a lift in. Today’s lift was upper body. Mostly barbell and dumbbell movements. Many of our girls are weaker in their upper body, so it was a struggle for them. After they completed the weights session, we did team abs, and that was the conclusion of day 8! Intrasquad scrimmage! Today is scrimmage day! Instead of two practices, we did one longer practice and did a 5-set scrimmage. We divided the team into two different groups and continued to change the groups for each set of the game. The girls were excited to finally play in a game-like situation for the first time this season, even though it was intrasquad. They were also happy to play with and against me! As I stated earlier, we did not have 12 people, so I had to fill a spot and play, and it was alot of fun to be back on the court! Furthermore, we tried our best to run the scrimmage like a real game. We had some people working on stating, and others were calling lines to get live practice before the real deal. Overall, the team played very well, and it was a great indicator of what we need to continue to work on as a team and individually. I filmed this scrimmage so we will be able to watch it as a team in the future. As a coach, it was nice to have a productive scrimmage day that was also a lot of fun.
It's day six, and we are almost done with the two-a-day struggle! Today we are back on the regular schedule of two team practices. The recovery session and ice baths seemed to have helped because the girls felt much more agile today.
First session: During the first team practice, we focused on serving and the importance of an aggressive serve. Many of the girls have different serves such as standing, jump or topspin, so coach and I worked with each type of server. The girls served zones and focused on consistency. After serving was warmed up, we implemented passers and did numerous serves and passing drills. Today the passers kind of struggled to finish some drills, but we got through it all. Second session: The second session was all scrimmage play. We did scrimmage play because tomorrow was going to be our inter-squad scrimmage. The team needed to walk through rotations as well as know who subs for who and so forth. We did not quite have enough people to do a full six on six, so I jumped in and played as well! – I will be playing in the scrimmage tomorrow as well. It’s day five, and the soreness is real! Many of the Girls are very sore and aching due to the high physical demand their bodies have been put through over the last few days. The plan was to do two practices, but due to their body’s aching, we cut it down to one full practice and a deep stretching session with ice baths. During the first practice, we limited jumps and swings to give their body’s a break. We focused more on low-impact movement and drills. After practice, we brought out foam rollers and lacrosse balls, and stretching bands so the athletic trainer could walk them through a deep stretching routine. Recovery is so essential, primarily when their bodies haven’t been worked out this hard in a month or so. After stretching, the trainers and I prepared ice baths for those who wanted them. – Let me say, getting college girls into an ice bath waist-deep is like pulling teeth. It is frigid but proven to be one of the best recovery methods, especially for the legs. A few girls gritted and bared the pain and took turns in the ice bath to end day 5!
Today was two team practices again. In the first session, we focused on offense, while in the second session, we focused on defense. We have set plays and hits that we will run in games, so we quizzed the team on the names and plays. Some people knew the play calls, and some people didn’t, and coach and I had a consequence for those who didn’t.
Session 1: we worked on hitters getting familiar with the setter in the form of hitting lines. Then we worked on running plays or routes where we have hitters crossing paths to mix up the defense on the other side of the court. It was slow to start because, as stated before, some of these girls are true freshmen and were not taught this in high school. It was a lot of stop and teach during this practice. Session 2: This practice was focused more on defensive movements. Defensive practices are always high energy because no one wants to let the ball hit the ground. This practice was a lot of stop and teach as well because there are specific crosses each player must make in the back row. All in all, today was a good learning day! Today we did a team practice in the morning, and the afternoon session was the team's first weight session. Unfortunately, we do not have a strength and conditioning coach at Dodge City Community College, so Coach Bruere and I put together our strength and conditioning workouts for the team. We have done a great job of implementing volleyball-specific lifts to help us get bigger, faster, and stronger on the court.
Team practice: The team was finally starting to feel the physical demand of two a day's. The training room seemed more busy than usual, and stretching seemed more popular. After speaking with some of the players, they mentioned to be sore in the lower body area from jumping a lot. During the first practice, it was a mix of drills and scrimmage play. We are slowly picking up the intensity during practice because our first game is just weeks away. Weight's session: Each player gets their packet with the lifts for the entire semester. They are responsible for following along and enter the amount and reps they complete each lift. We designed the weights packets together this way so that they can track their progress as we go. Our first lift was great, super high energy, and seemed excited and ready to work I despite the soreness and tiredness. Day 1 was a light start into the real grind. Day 2 was more of a challenge for the team as well as the coaches. The days start to seem longer and eventually blur together. Jordan and I met to plan out day 2. The first session will be a heavier jumping and game-like play, whereas the second session will be more individual-based and skill development.
Session 1 recap: We started today's practice will a warmup game called "Oklahoma". The team loves this game because it's competitive and gets them moving and playing hard out the gate. After the warm-up game, we did some drills to implement what we worked on the day before. Passing drills and serve receive drills – the two keys to win any volleyball game. We then ended the practice with 6v6 or scrimmage play. Session 2: we required the entire team to be there at the start of practice; however, there were two separate individual groups we divided them into. Each position group has a one-hour practice today so that coach and I Can work more closely with the players. Individuals are essential because it allows players to break down skills that we do not always have time to do in a team practice. While one group was practicing, the other group saw the trainers for treatment and rehab, the two groups switched. Today was a fun day! I was able to hand out gear to the team! I wanted to make this a surprise to the team right before we start two a days because two a days are always a struggle mentally and physically. So, I got to the gym early today to do so. We are sponsored by Adidas this year, so that means 3 BRAND NEW jerseys! Black, White, and Purple! In addition to the new jerseys, each player received a new purple Adidas backpack. Along with the backpacks, each player received three pairs of spandex, five practice shirts, one pair of volleyball shoes, one team hoodie, one team sweatpant, one pair of knee pads, and a personalized locker nameplate; a team warm-up shirt, and a personalized bag tag! This being our first year, we worked with a budget that previous coaches handled, so we could fundraise in the last semester and provide each player with the essential gear. Once I was done separating each item by size and putting it in their respective locker’s, I called the team over to the locker room and surprised them all! They loved the surprise and were so excited as many of them didn’t get this much free gear before at their previous high school! All in all, the Adidas Christmas was a success; now time to prepare for the grind of two a days!
Two a days are the most challenging week or few days for any college athlete—two tough workouts, whether it'sit's two practices or one practice and a conditioning session. Day one is always the most challenging because t'st's the first team workout/ practice since a month-long Christmas break vacation. We are immediately able to see who did workout over the break and who didn't. The first session of the first day was conditioning and testing. We tested each player's vertical, standing reach, standing block jump. After all jumping tests were completed, we tested agilities by doing the T-drill and running a certain amount of sidelines within a certain amount of seconds. Testing may seem like a simple task, but it is very tedious as each player gets three tries on every test, and we take the highest score from each test. This is also a very stressful day for athletes because they will eventually get updated in the system and sent out to other schools for recruiting purposes.
Session two was our first volleyball practice. We started off walking the team through a series of exercises and stretches to be completed before each practice. After walking through warm-ups, we broke down the basics of passing. We have a majority of true freshmen, so it was essential for us to break down the fundamentals and build from the bottom up. Overall, today wasn't a heavy day but it's only day 1! Today is the first day I will begin to log my hours for my internship. I will be using my newly accepted position here at Dodge City Community College as my internship! Having the opportunity to use my current position as my internship has provided me with a unique outlook on this entire experience. – First, some background information. My mentor for this internship is my boss and Head Coach, Jordan Bruere. While it is our first year working together and our first year at this college, we could use all of the fall semester to prepare for this season. If you know anything about volleyball, you would know that volleyball is usually a fall sport, but; COVID-19 has completely changed the game… literally! The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference has decided that all sports excluding cross country will be postponed until the spring semester! I saw this as a blessing and a curse because we are unsure if we will actually get to play come the spring due to so many uncertainties with the pandemic! But fingers crossed! However, Jordan and I plan to use this semester to our advantage to work out any kinks and become familiar with each other's coaching styles as it is our first year working with each other!
First Team Meeting: The team's report back date from Christmas break was today, January 3, 2021. Today, the group helped each other move back into their dorm rooms, got settled in, and attended the first team meeting of the year! We went over our team handbook during this team meeting, explaining team protocols, expectations, procedures, team rules, season schedule, and team offense and defense. Each player must sign and turn in the last page of their handbook stating they understand and will abide by the team rules and consequences during the season. First team meeting in the books! |
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